Writing through it

… or not.

Lately my days have fallen into the ‘or not’ category. Other things have been occupying my time: work craziness, packing, wrist problems, cleaning, yard sales, parents, business trips, dead laptops. None of it is really all that bad, but I’m mentally and physically exhausted. It’s just a little much right now for me to handle all at once.

[photo: Packing by Jason Vance CC]On the plus side, I’ve rediscovered my love of aimless walks. I can get lost in thoughts and daydreams as I go, and it’s nice to hear the voice in my head again. There’s time to ruminate, puzzle things through, and have debates with my internal self. I’m also more fit than I have been in a while, because I’ve done so much of it and it feels good.

On the down side, I’ve almost gotten run over twice. Um… yes. And I’m starting to get grumpy, the way I always get when I haven’t written in a while. I’m clocking in at more than a month in a half, and it’s driving me nuts.

Sometimes it’s wiser to rest. Sometimes it’s procrastination. This time I can’t figure out which one it is.

I used to always write through it. Lately I have been completely overwhelmed by real life and it’s been too much to even think about writing. But, like you, I find myself moody and a bit depressed because I’m not writing. The few days that I’ve been able to get some words in were like a breath of fresh air, but most days I still just look at the laptop and sigh. Maybe I do need to push myself to get in even 100 words a day because I usually feel stronger mentally when I write something.

It depends. This has been a rough year (12+ months, and no real end in sight), and I have managed to write a story (a novella, technically, which seems to be my ideal length these days — good thing I’m not trying to sell this). It’s more scattered than what I was writing before that, but that’s the way it goes.

I do write when there’s a lot of craziness going on, but sometimes it’s just scenes — raw materials to be assembled later on. Which is fine, too. In musical terms, just some loose jams and melodies.

For me, it depends on what’s going on — sometimes it helps me to write through it (especially if I need a distraction) and sometimes it’s the opposite. If I feel like my writing will suffer for it, I set the computer aside and do something else.

I hope things calm down for you soon and that your wrists feel better!!